Courthouse Officials Accused of Stealing 260 Smartphones in Morocco

The persons prosecuted in this case are: three officials of the judicial institution, a retired military man and a security agent, reports Al Ahdath Al Maghribia. This case came to light at the end of 2018. A young student went to the Benguerir courthouse to recover his smartphone following a court decision. The device had been seized as part of a case.

The head of the department in charge of the management of seized items within the courthouse informed the young man of the disappearance of his phone, and offered to buy him another one. The young student declines this proposal. He wants to recover his smartphone, as the device, he says, contains important files for his Master’s studies. The official then decides to inform his hierarchical superior, the chief registrar of the courthouse. In his correspondence, the civil servant reports the disappearance of more than 260 high-value smartphones.

Realizing the magnitude of the situation, the seizures department seized the public prosecutor. Similarly, the case was entrusted to the judicial police of Marrakech. The latter managed to trace the whereabouts of several missing phones. Questioned, the owners of these devices claimed to have bought them from people working at the courthouse.

The investigators discovered that three officials who worked in the seizures service at the time of the disappearance of the items concerned are involved in this case. They are being prosecuted for theft of property entrusted to them in the course of their duties and breach of trust. In addition to the officials, a security guard and a retired military man are also implicated. They are being prosecuted for concealment of property obtained as a result of a crime.